Haircut

This Python script calculates basic statistics pulled from my haircut page.

Based on the original Gist created by Kyle Fox.

Sample Output

Number of haircuts recorded: 140 (Since October 10, 1998)
Shortest time between haircuts: 9 days (July 21, 2016 to July 30, 2016)
Longest time between haircuts: 138 days (November 28, 2022 to April 15, 2023)
Median time between haircuts: 69.0 days
Average time between haircuts: 68.8 days
Average time between last six haircuts: 50.8 days
Your last haircut was 2 days ago. (December 17, 2024)
You probably should get another haircut in about 48 days. (February 05, 2025)

Requirements

• Python 3
• Beautiful Soup 4

Installation

These installation instructions pertain specifically to my primary developer machine, a 2015 MacBook Pro running macOS 10.13.6 High Sierra. They are included here mainly for my own reference.

Your mileage will very likely vary.

Install MacPorts

Download the legacy MacPorts Installer applicable to the macOS version you’re using.

In this case, for High Sierra.

Run the installer.

Install Python 3

In a new Terminal window:

$ sudo port install python311

Set this version of Python as the default run by either the python or python3 commands.

$ sudo port select --set python python311

$ sudo port select --set python3 python311

Install Beautiful Soup 4

$ sudo port install py311-beautifulsoup4

Operation

In the Terminal, cd to the directory where haircut.py resides

$ python haircut.py

Change Log

20250825

• Changed deprecated method findAll to find_all

20241218

• Ported script to Python 3
• Replaced urllib2 library with urllib.request library
• Removed exception handling for malformed dates
• Median and average times are now formatted with a single decimal place
• Moved the script for Python 2 to the /legacy/ directory

20241111

• Added calculation of the average time between the previous six haircuts
• The next haircut date is now based on the previous six haircut average
• Changed terminology from “period” to “time” in the output

20230121

• Added fix for failed certificate verification related to the urllib2.py library

20220617

• Updated to Beautiful Soup 4
• Added html.parser argument to BeautifulSoup() constructor

20211130

• Added “User-agent” header to fix urllib2.HTTPError: HTTP Error 406: Not Acceptable
• Standardized variable naming and value quoting because consistency

20201010

• Added calculation of the median time between haircuts

20200922

• Modified output for even more consistent display of days and dates
• Added newlines before and after output because readability

20200714

• Modified output for haircuts occurring one day ago

20200526

• Modified output for consistent display of days and dates
• Added more descriptive “next haircut” strings
• Added logic to display “day zero” status
• Updated URLs to use https

20180327

• Added note regarding Beautiful Soup requirement

20131109

• Set UTF-8 encoding

20131023

• Educated the apostrophes
• Minor edits and formatting tweaks

20121114

• Initial release as a Gist by Kyle Fox